Wednesday, 27 January 2016

How To Be Successful On Cross-Border E-Commerce In China?

China’s statistics seems to be more
appealing everyday: the country now has 642 million Internet users, amongst
which 360 million are online buyers. And the latter are more and more
interested in foreign products, as these items are now available to consumers
through cross-border distribution channels. If you wish your brand to integrate
the Chinese market, here are a few pointers on how to make the most out of this
cross-border development.

Foreign e-commerce websites

The Chinese clientele can purchase
foreign products … on foreign e-commerce platforms. These usually have their
limits regarding Chinese consumers, since they do not all offer payment and
logistics solution which are suitable to them.

However those who really want to appeal
to this target will make extra efforts: have a Mandarin version of their
website, use payment methods which Chinese consumers can use and propose an
advance delivery system. These services can be expensive for small players:
finding partners to deal with this matter is essential.

Daigou services are widely used. These
are like personal buyers: they will buy the product you are looking for
directly in a country where prices are lower than in China and will send them
to you afterwards.

Even though you might not get a discount
on retail price, the overall cost here is still lower than buying directly in
China since import taxes are very high. Add that to the burden of logistics to
China and of quality or security, and you will understand why this type of
service will certainly not disappear soon.

Besides, these Daigou usually get known
by consumers through WeChat – an app used by everyone in China – and this
proximity appeals greatly to the Chinese clientele.

Since the creation of Free Trade Zone in
China, companies which are established there benefit from better import
procedures and taxes. Today there are approximately 5,000 platforms on the
Chinese market and each has its own specifics: bulk purchase, social shopping,
focus on small brands or on outlets… it is up to you to figure out which one suits
you best.

Once consumers know that your products
come from the USA or Europe, quality is no longer an issue. On the other hand,
what will be decisive for them is what they know about you. Indeed, they will
make their choice according to three main things: other buyers’ experience,
their relations’ recommendations (Word of Mouth, or WOM) and what they have
read from reliable sources (in articles or on social media). Sharing quality
content is therefore very important. Plus, since your products will be copied
quickly after you enter the Chinese market, you better have a strong content
strategy to support your sales, otherwise the latter will decrease fast.

Information gets spread in two different
ways in China: either you provide Internet users with quality content and they
will simply share it without changing its format, or you do not provide them
with one and your information will be changed or exaggerated. You should thus be
careful with what is said online.

However, since Mandarin is a tonal and
contextual language it can be easy to come up with creative content to support
your sales.

Spread the Word

If there are many social media in China,
WeChat is the one we are interested in: it enables its 650 million users not
only to send messages but also to follow their favourite brands, celebrities
and experts. The latter are called KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) and generally
have around 300,000 fans. Celebrities’ fanbases sometimes go up to 20 million
followers. Collaborating with KOLs will help you reach a large audience.

Besides KOLs, the networks of individual
users are also used in marketing strategies in China. It is what we call We
Media and it encompasses any information people will share online (via blogs,
social media, document sharing or video posting for example). Individuals are
seen as opinion leaders in their own circle and can be an additional channel to
relay your content.

Finally, as we’ve said before, Daigou
heavily use WeChat and are usually quite close to customers. They can give you
a lot of insights on this clientele and also be a good way to spread the word
about your products.

The Specifics of E-Commerce in China

The e-commerce environment in China is
very different from what you could find in other countries. Most e-commerce
platform offer the same products. If it does provide Chinese customers with a
full experience of foreign products, the reasons for this uniformity lie
elsewhere.

First, these platforms usually do not
get the approval from brands to sell full ranges of their products and
therefore need to diversify their offer if they want their website to be
attractive enough.

Another thing is that some platforms ask
foreign brands for exclusivity in order to integrate them in their website.

You must understand the reasoning
behind: even though these web firms want to welcome new brands, they are not
willing to take any risk. Therefore they will only accept those brands they are
sure are appealing to Chinese consumers, which is why it is crucial for you to
work on your online image and to set a digital marketing strategy before even
considering asking e-commerce platforms to feature your products. Since the Chinese
web arena is complex to any outsider, collaborating with an agency will help
you greatly.

About Baltic Media Translations

Offering
businesses a full range of Professional Translation Services in over 150
languages since 1994.

#Translation
company Baltic Media Ltd. is a leading provider of translation and localization
services in Northern Europe. We provide you access to over 150 languages for
the translation of your documents to enter global markets with high quality
localized products and services that meet the language and functionality
requirements of customers in any locale.

About us

Offering
businesses a full range of Professional Translation Services in over 150
languages since 1994.

#Translation
company Baltic Media Ltd. is a leading provider of translation and localization
services in Northern Europe. We provide you access to over 150 languages for
the translation of your documents to enter global markets with high quality
localized products and services that meet the language and functionality
requirements of customers in any locale.